Prior to COVID, Justine and I made a regular habit of visiting New York City (NYC). We’d averaged close to once a year over the time we’ve been together and had some of our best trips there. So, missing out for the better part of three years has been hard and it was one of the first places we wanted to get back to. Justine’s Dad was celebrating a milestone birthday and being from NYC (the Bronx to be more specific), this seemed like the perfect excuse to plan a trip!
NYC is an expensive place, and as much as we love it, we typically try and do it in small doses. So, this time we planned to do an extended long weekend and use it to show Justine’s Mom (Maureen) and Dad (Michael) all the great places we’ve discovered over the years. Plus, it was going to be a great opportunity for Michael to reminisce about his time growing up there and give us some color and insight to the city that we’ve not had.
Our plan was to meet them at the airport in NYC (in this case LaGuardia), with them flying in from Toronto and us from Vancouver. We managed to find flights that work – a reasonable morning flight for them, and a redeye through Chicago for us. That meant that we left Thursday night at close to midnight but all of us got in at roughly 11:00 a.m. The late-night flight wouldn’t be great, but it gave us most of Friday and we booked a late afternoon flight how on Monday. So, we ended up with the better part of three days to explore.
Our welcome to the Big Apple.
The flight out of Vancouver was delayed a bit, but favorable wind conditions meant that we made up the time enroute. Normally, I don’t sleep well on planes but this time I managed to sleep quite a bit on the way to Chicago, and then again on the leg to NYC. Justine did not fare quite so well and had a much rougher trip. Fortunately, all our flights and luggage worked out and we made it to NYC at about the right time. So far so good. Justine and I were a bit early, so we thought we’d take the airport shuttle to the terminal where Maureen and Michael were coming it. That turned out to be a bit of mistake, as traffic around the airport was a disaster! In the end we got an unexpected tour of the airport, but eventually all met up at their terminal. From there it was a long Uber ride into the city, to our hotel for the weekend in Chelsea.
The view out of the window of our hotel. Not amazing, but we’ve certainly had worse! At least it’s not the side of another building!
Justine had done an amazing job finding a great hotel for us – a Courtyard Marriott on West 30th between 6th and 7th Ave. It’s in a great location, was a decent price and ended up being quite a good size for a NYC hotel. It was close to the subway and many of the locations we wanted to visit. The Uber dropped us off and we were able to check in right away, which was great. I think it was roughly 1:00 p.m. when we got to the hotel. We were settled in, changed, and out exploring by about 2:00!
We headed out from the hotel heading south, with the ultimate goal being Chelsea Market and a date with half price oysters at Cull and Pistol, a great oyster bar in the market. Happy Hour started at 4:00, so we had some time.
Our route took us south past the famous Chelsea Hotel, then down towards the market itself. We were quite early and so stopped at a local bar in the Meat Packing District and had a drink and nachos, guacamole, and salsa.
The weather was a bit cooler (and windier) than expected, and so we didn’t stay too long. We then wandered back into the mall to check out the various stores and such. It hadn’t changed a lot from the last time we were there.
Maureen and Michael out front of Chelsea Market.
Just before happy hour started, we wandered over to the restaurant and they seated us at the bar. We had some oysters and other appies and a drink or two and enjoyed the atmosphere. A couple of hours later we made our way back out and into the market and checked out the rest of the stores. There’s a great little craft market with local vendors where we made a couple of purchases. It was still light out as we made our way back outside.
We thought about stopping at Biergarten, but it was really cold and windy and so decided on Brass Monkey instead.
We’ve frequented this very awesome bar many times, and once again settled into the cozy atmosphere of the pub. As it was autumn, they had their pumpkin beer with the sugar rim on tap! We had a couple of drinks before calling it a day and heading back up to the hotel.
It had been a long day for Jus and I – especially for Jus as she didn’t really sleep on the way to NYC. We called it a night pretty early and got a good night’s sleep.
Michael had a (surprisingly short) list of things he wanted to do while in NYC, and proper NY bagels for breakfast were one of them. As it turned out, just a few blocks away was a well know bagel place, so after a bit of a late start we headed their way.
The reputation must have been well earned, as there was a big line up (out the door)! The bagels were huge and the selection of options for the bagels were crazy! 30+ types of cream cheese plus pretty much anything else you might want. Michael and Maureen went for lox and cream cheese (classic NY); Jus went with plain cream cheese, and I went full breakfast sandwich. They were amazing! And huge.
Jus and Maureen had managed to snag a table while we waited in the massive line, so we were able to sit and enjoy our brunch. Amazingly, the line was even bigger when we left.
Selfie time in the reflection of the Vessel.
From there we were heading over to the Highline. For those of you that have followed my adventures over the years, you’ll be well versed on what is probably my favorite place in NYC. The elevated park running down the west side of Manhattan is a must visit, even after all these years.
We walked over to the north entrance at 34th street, passing Macy’s, Madison Square Garden, and the new train station hall at Penn Station. The weather was much better than the night before, with the wind having calmed down and the sun out in full force. It was a beautiful fall day, perfect for a walk in the park.
The High Line map. We walked the whole thing (minus the spur).
Before we got to the Highline, we made a slight detour over to check out the Vessel, the huge sculpture/observation tower in Hudson Yards. The upper parts of it were closed as they did renovations (surprising, given how new the thing is), but they were letting people inside the base to check it out. We had not done that before, so it was something novel.
From there, it was over to the Highline and a casual meander south. The top part provides great views of both the new Hudson Yards development as well as the Hudson River. There were lots of boats out on the water, great views over to New Jersey, and an absolutely huge cruise ship berthed further north. As the path worked its way south through the residential areas of the park, Justine and I both noted how much the vegetation on the Highline is growing in. Many of the trees are getting much bigger and really starting to fill in the open spaces.
As I’m sure they panned, as the park ages it gets even better! We made many stops along the way to check out the art, sit and enjoy the sunshine and take in the views.
There is so much to see!
Eventually we made our way to the south end of the park in the Meat Packing District – basically where we had been the night before. As we already had beer tickets from the aborted stop yesterday, we popped into Biermarket (German-themed beer garden) for a pretzel and some pints of good German beer. Perfect for a warm sunny afternoon. The place has a great atmosphere, and it was really busy! We again got lucky with a seat near the entrance, and we had a bit of fun with the “doorman” that was checking ID – on everyone but us it seemed.
After our little rest and snacks, we continued our wandering out to see NYC’s newest park, Little Island. Little Island is a manmade park sitting on/over the Hudson River. It’s made of these crazy concrete vessels that sit like stilts in the river, lifting the park up and over the water. It’s one of the most interesting things I’ve ever seen!
Looking at Little Island from the High Line.
A panoramic image of Little Island. You can see the large concrete bases that make up the structure of the island.
We had discovered it on our last trip to NYC when they were just starting to build it. About 3 years later it was complete, and it is amazing! It’s a lot bigger than I imagined, with an amphitheater (nothing going on while we were there), and these great paths that meander over the park, giving great views (as it sits up high) across the river and south, and open spaces for people to sit and relax. There’s also an open-air seating area serving food and drinks. We managed to get a table and have a drink in the sunshine. I know my description is not really doing the place justice, so hopefully a few photos will help show it off. It’s almost an extension of the Highline (where it’s situated) and will certainly become part of our places to visit on future trips.
The map of our walk along the High Line.
A close up of the walk around Little Island.
We were pretty tired by this point, so we headed back to the hotel, taking the subway instead of walking back up. We had dinner reservations at 7:30, and a nap was in our plans before that. For dinner, Justine had managed to find what looked to be a very interesting Spanish restaurant in the Chelsea Hotel. It got good reviews, the photos made it look cool, and the menu looked very good – including what was supposed to be the “best paella in NYC”. We had high hopes. We had also heard that the lobby bar at the Chelsea Hotel was worth a stop for a pre-dinner drink, so we headed out a little early.
After a short walk south, the lobby bar lived up to its reputation. The service was… slow, but the place was seriously cool! Great atmosphere, classic hotel bar vibe and great drinks. I had the best martini I’ve ever had. It did come at a very steep price…
From there, we moved into the restaurant for dinner. Our first impressions were marred by the very rude woman that was seating us. The waiter was a bit flighty, but we were still encouraged by the menu, and we were having a fun evening.
Sadly, the star of the show, the paella, was a bit of a flop. If this is the best NYC has to offer, then I feel sad for NYC. Maureen definitely makes better, as we’ve experienced on a number of occasions.
Overall, I think we were disappointed with our meal – it was pricy for what it ended up being. While the place had a good atmosphere, I think we’d be hard pressed to go back. I’d certainly go back to the lobby bar, but we’ll have to find a different place for paella.
After dinner we still had a bit of life left in us, and Justine had the grand idea to see if we could get up to the roof bar at the Moxy Hotel, the place we’d stayed at last time. It’s a club on Saturday nights, and there was a short line for access, but somehow Justine managed to talk the doorman into letting us in. Given the demographics on the rest of the people there, I’m still not sure why he let us in?!?! The club has some great views out and over the city, but the music was (as expected) crazy loud and there really wasn’t much to hold us there. We did a lap around the place so Michael and Maureen could see it (and the great views), and then we bolted out of there. We settled instead for a nightcap at the bar next to the hotel, wrapping up our night (appropriately) after midnight. All-in-all, it was a fun night!
Sunday we slept in a bit, then headed a little south of the hotel to try a different, equally well-known bagel place. This one also had a huge line up, but also ended up being worth the wait. Rather than try and find a place to sit, we took our brunch to go and hopped on the subway up to Central Park. The day was not as nice as Saturday had been – we had grey clouds rather than blue skies – but the temperature was nice. We entered the park around 81st Street near the Museum of Natural History, and soon find a very nice place to sit, on a bench overlooking the big pond.
Our breakfast spot. I’m definitely a NY bagel convert.
We had a relaxing time eating our breakfast, enjoyed the warm day and then started meandering through the park. We didn’t really have a plan, other than to work our way to the south end of the Park. All the crazy, huge condo buildings that had been going up while we were there last time were now all finished (and units for sale if you have $30-$225M in spare change kicking around). It’s hard to imagine how you build something that tall and skinny.
Eventually we made our way out onto 59th Street and headed over to the subway at Lexington Avenue. We took the subway south to the tip of Manhattan to the site of the World Trade Center, as Maureen and Michael had not seen the 911 Memorial. It’s a very special place, and well worth the time. It had been many years since Justine and I had been there, and it’s as moving as ever. They planted a ton of trees around the site, and almost 20 years on they have filled out nicely and make for a beautiful spot to sit and remember.
After spending some time at the memorial, we continued working our way south to Battery Park. We had good views out to the Statue of Liberty. There’s a bar/restaurant near the ferry terminal, and we were able to get a seat at their outdoor bar overlooking the water. We sat for a while watching the world go by. The ferries going in and out; the British aircraft carrier the HMS Queen Elizabeth docked out in the harbor; and we saw one of the world’s biggest cruise ships (200’ longer than the aircraft carrier) head out to sea.
Looking out to the Statue of Liberty, from our lovely spot at the bar.
Sadly, we also could see the weather changing and coming our way, and before we were able to take care of the bill, we had to wait out some of the rain.
Eventually there was a break, and we made a dash for the subway. It was not the only rain we had to deal with on Sunday. We took the subway back north to the hotel and relaxed for a little while before getting ready for dinner. Michael’s other request was NYC pizza, so we thought we’d try heading down to Little Italy to search out pizza. Justine and I have had good success there in the past, so we were hopeful. We got a little more than we bargained for…
Our big day out on a map. The “teleporting” shows our subway trips.
After taking the subway to Canal Street, we walked across Grand towards Little Italy, and were surprised to see that the area was in the middle of a full-on street carnival! We later found out that it was the last day of a 10-day festival, and the area looked the part. There were booths set-up along all the streets, with most of them closed off to traffic. Where we came in there were some carnival rides (including a small Ferris wheel) and the usual games of chance. Sadly, they hadn’t been cleaning up after themselves, as there were also mountains of garbage in the intersections of the streets. It was all a little much, so we moved away from the center of the festivities and towards the outer edges of the area. We eventually decided on one of the restaurants and took a table in one of the outdoor booths.
Sadly, this meal wasn’t what we had hoped either. Our waiter was a little odd… he was trying hard but wasn’t very good. The food was OK but not amazing, and again we found the prices a bit on the high side for what we got. But we were in a touristy part of town, so it was somewhat to be expected. The unfortunate part was the weather – as we paid and started to leave, the skies opened with a torrential downpour and massive thunderstorm! We decided to try and make a run for the subway, but we did not make it. It was 4-5 blocks that we needed to go, and we tried to shelter in doorways and under any place where they were doing construction, but it was really coming down and we got completely soaked. Even as we were trying to cross various streets, there was so much water there were rivers running along to the point that we had to find places to cross where the water wasn’t over our shoes. We made it to the subway, but the entrance was flooded and there was another huge pool of water at the bottom of the stairs.
Soaked to the bone, the subway ride back to the hotel was a little subdued. We had planned to stop for a last nightcap, but instead needed to get back and change out of very wet cloths. We called it a night, wrapping up our last full day in NYC.
Monday, we really didn’t have a lot of time to do much. Our check out time was at noon, and I needed to leave for the airport around the same time. Justine, Maureen, and Michael had maybe an hour more, but it still didn’t leave a lot of time to do much of anything. Instead, we had a leisurely morning and breakfast from the hotel restaurant, sitting outside on the front patio. Sadly, our long weekend came to an end, and I headed to JFK Airport to fly to Toulouse and pick up my adventures in France.